With social media impacting the lives of celebs, there has been a debate whether the number of followers one has is also affecting the casting process for actors. While many believe that social media is an influencing factor but not the sole reason to cast actors, popular actor Shriya Pilgaonkar, known for critically acclaimed web series like ‘13 Mussoorie’, ‘Mirzapur’ to name a few recently raised her voice to address the similar concern.
“Actors should not be made to feel that they NEED to have a certain social media following to be considered for projects,” she tweeted and it grabbed everyone’s attention within moments. Another versatile actor Swastika Mukherjee known for playing headstrong characters was quick to respond to the tweet.

@ShriyaP That’s what is happening. I hear from so many places casting is being done on the basis of Instagram following. Shocking but true.

— Swastika Mukherjee (@swastika24) 1674486422000

Swastika wrote, “That’s what is happening. I hear from so many places casting is being done on the basis of Instagram following. Shocking but true.” This is not the first time Swastika addressed the loopholes in casting procedures these days. The ‘Shrimati’ actor has addressed this issue previously as well.
Not only Swastika but there are other celebs who have spoken about the casting process these days. Parambrata Chattopadhyay who juggles between his OTT and film commitments once said that it is unfortunate to see talent getting overshadowed and someone much more deserving losing out on work, just because he or she might be less popular on social media compared to his contemporaries. Especially with the influx of digital shows casting agencies, directors and producers keep an eye on who’s popular and influencing the social media space.

He further insisted that earlier people used to know an actor by their character names, but now because of social media people know the actors better. While there’s nothing wrong for the producers to want to cast someone who is known by the millions, but Parambrata feels, this criteria should be given the least preference as social media following doesn’t guarantee good acting.